Moroheiya Noodles

Photos by Tohoku Digital Archive

Historical Background of Moroheiya vegetable

It is unclear where Moroheiya vegetable originally came from, but it is thought to have originated from northern Africa to western India. It has a long history and was already used as a food in ancient Egypt. Moroheiya means "royalty" in Arabic, which comes from the story of an ancient Egyptian king. When he was sick, he recovered after drinking moroheiya soup. We can see that its high nutrition has been attracting attention since that time.

Historical Background of Yuuna-Ya

They found Moroheiya as a suitable for making udon. They found that the stickiness of moroheiya was ideal for udon noodles, and after many trials, the moroheiya noodles we have today were born. Not only moroheiya, but all other ingredients are also produced without using pesticides.

Characteristics

Moroheiya contains great amounts of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers in quantity, which surpass most known vegetables and herbs. Moroheiya noodles are made from unbleached and unprocessed wheat flour and organically grown by Morohieya. As mentioned above, it is a vegetable that contains more minerals, vitamins, and dietary fiber than spinach, broccoli, or carrots. One serving of noodles contains 32% of the daily value of dietary fiber, 20% of Vitamin A, and lots of other Vitamins. Also, it is steamed and air-dried rather than pre-fried, and without added preservatives, food coloring, or MSG. It has an unparalleled taste, which provides more options towards vegetarian and vegan.

Benefits we can get

• Recovery from fatigue (Vitamin B)

• Rejuvenation (Vitamin A,C, E)

• Prevent swelling (Potassium)

• Anemia prevention (Folic acid)

How to produce

Moroheiya noodles are made by boiling, blending, making a paste, and kneading it into udo flour. They put only water and salt in it.

Where to eat: the Farmer's Restaurant Yuna-Ya

Near Akita Airport, there is a restaurant named “the Farmer's Restaurant Yuna-Ya“. It takes about 15 minutes by car.  

In 2000, they opened the first farmer's restaurant in Akita Prefecture, Yuna-Ya, and the following year, their "Moroheiya Noodle" won the Governor's Prize in the processing category of the Akita Prefecture Seed and Seedling Exchange Association. This was followed by the development of shiitake mushroom noodles, ancient purple rice noodles, yacon noodles, etc., one after another. And of course, you can also purchase moroheiya noodles by the internet.